Modding the Acer Aspire One – Bluetooth

In this part, I demonstrate how to take the Aspire One apart, how to upgrade the RAM, and how to add internal USB Bluetooth…

Here’s a video and some pictures that cover the take apart and RAM upgrade process. Of course, I’m not responsible if you damage anything.

The internal USB Bluetooth mod is pretty much identical to the one I performed on my Asus 701 (Eee). It works without interfering with the built-in wireless or disabling any of the available USB ports. Use this post for reference.

Basically, I connected a micro USB Bluetooth module (Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR) to a 5V trace (off in standby), a nearby ground trace, and the USB signals (pins 36 & 38) available on the mini PCIe card slot occupied by the WiFi card. The Bluetooth module was stripped, wrapped in Kapton tape and installed under the palm rest.

In part 2, I’m going to show how to replace the SSD with a 1.8″ PATA hard drive and how to reassemble the Aspire One.

Update: Here’s a reply to various people’s comments on various other posts that have linked to my mod.

1) You don’t have to use a micro USB Bluetooth module (although I got mine on sale, two for $40). You can use almost any USB Bluetooth module – most of them are Linux/OSX/Windows compatible out of the box. All Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) chipsets work for sure, so just check the specs. This one should work – it’s CSR-based and it’s cheap.

There are 2 things to keep in mind with Bluetooth modules:
– Avoid Bluetooth 1.0/1.1/1.2 modules. These are obsolete. Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR is the way to go.
– Avoid Class 1 (100 meter) modules. The range is better but the power consumption is higher. Go for class 2 (10 meter).

2) Yes, I’ve successfully taken apart and put together my Aspire One several times now. In the video, I was taking it apart for the second time and I was surprised about how difficult the keyboard was to remove, because it was a lot easier the first time around. I blame it on the fact that I was streaming the video live :)

3) The video is longer than I wanted it to be (see 2 above), but it’s worth watching if you have time, because it contains a lot of details and answers a lot of questions about the Aspire One hardware.

4) I have not yet tested the pads for USB signals (pins 36 & 38) on the missing mini PCIe connector, but I’ll do it soon. I’ve ordered some parts to do a 3G mod using the pads for the missing mini PCIe and SIM holder on the motherboard.

5) There’s another version of the Aspire One with a hard drive, 1 GB RAM, and Windows XP (it uses a standard 2.5″ SATA HDD and a modified casing). It’s definitely worth the extra $30, but it’s both thicker and heavier. My Bluetooth mod should work with this other version as well.

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244 Responses to Modding the Acer Aspire One – Bluetooth

[…] started cracking it open and adding stuff to the guts. She’s already started and has posted some photos and a video of the process to add Bluetooth to the AAO, something it is lacking in its cheap […]

Nice job! Just curious if you checked the empty header on the other side of the motherboard, labeled CN11 I think. It looks like usb, but I have no idea if it’s live. Also, did you test the empty PCI-E solder pads where the 3g card would go to see if it was connected to anything? I’m considering trying to use that 3g door to do something like this mod: http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=3982

@pat, it’s possible to connect a USB hub to the same mini PCIe connector (pins 36 & 38) instead of the Bluetooth module, and then connect multiple devices to the hub. Alternatively, it’s also possible to connect a USB hub or device to the pads for the missing mini PCIe connector dedicated to the missing 3G card.

Thanks for a very interesting first video of to hack this little beauty. Gonna pick up the XP version tomorrow at the local electronics store here in Sweden.

Just a got a short question. Since the XP/HDD version of the One comes with 1GB of RAM (512KB soldered + 512K replacable) is there need to upgrade to 1.5G? Of course one can never have enough RAM, but still.

Could you please state the memory unit specs that you used to upgrade the One in the video. Don’t want to buy the incorrect RAM module. And I guess that it would be better to use the a RAM module with the same frequency as the soldered memory right? If I rememer it correctly RAM modules always dynamically “slow down” to the same frequency as the slowest RAM module connected.

Hmmm…That turned out not only to be more that one question…but also a bit longer than I excpected. ;)

Thanks again for a great video and hopefully some answers to my questions.

Thanks tnkgrl that was an extremely informative vid. I have been waiting for 6 weeks since I placed my order for my One but it still hasn’t turned up. However, I am also intending to add bluetooth and 3g to mine (no HDD though – too fragile) so you have answered a lot of questions for me.

I have a tiny USB hub that I am intending to connect to the mini PCI E USB feed for both bluetooth and 3g.

[…] a thin one) between what Acer can officially sanction (the How to… section) and all the other weird and wonderful tweaks that exist out there but blow your warranties out the window. (the forum […]

[…] very clever blogger mods the Acer Aspire One, twice! She takes the basic version, with the SSD and add a bluetooth receiver to it. But she doesn’t stop there! She then add a 1.8″ HDD to it. With pictures and a clear […]

Hey – thanks for the great tutorials – I was wonderinng if you have considered modding the acer with touchscreen- i have seen other posts around modding asus with touchscreen so I think it would be kinda cool if it was possible with acers.

[…] support from the community. For those who want to do some hardware hacking tnkgrl has some nice videos showing the opening and installing of memory, bluetooth and hard drive and closing of the case. […]

Hey Tnkrgirl, first of all thanks for sharing your great work with everyone. Given in part 2 you replaced a SSD with a PATA hard drive, is it possible to convert a the windows XP version of Acer Aspire One from a PATA drive to an SSD? I really want the option to have an SSD only machine (durability purposes) running windows xp but for now the hard drive win xp version will do. Thanks for your help.

Thanks Tnkgrl,
I would also like to see a touchscreen mod for the AA1.
The video of jkkmobile shows him surfing while laying on the couch with the 900
touchscreen mod. Looks very nice.
You say the XP version has a 2.5″ SATA but is slightly thicker and heavier.
I am considering buying the XP version and then install Linpus or Ubuntu.
I am guessing the 2.5″ SATA would be faster than the 1.8″ PATA mod.
If not, I could get the SSD version and install your 1.8″ PATA mod.

I don’t know why even bother the Bluetooth hack. I bought one of those super small Bluetooth USB adaptors and it’s so small, that I just keep it in one of USB ports all the time. Even more, when you don’t need it you can just unplug it and save some more battery life.

[…] over two weeks now and I must say the only thign I am missing is a built-in bluetooth. I found this excellent article by tnkgrl which covers the story pretty much as it is. Tnkgrl uses a Kensington micro-USB adapter which does […]

[…] up by the community dealing with the item itself. For example, within this thread, I found links to instructions on how to add internal bluetooth and additional RAM. So there’s a wealth of knowledge that can be had by referencing the original post. In order […]

Since we are already inside the beast voiding the warranty, is there a way to burn the 512mb on the board so the system would recognize a 2gb sodimm?
I heard the system can manage it so why not brick the 512 to get 2gb?
Let me know
thanks

Nice Job tnkgirl! Used your procedure and it works perfectly! One note though, I had some doubt about where to solder the dongle to. Maybe you can take some pictures up close to ommit guesswork. But other than that you ROCK!

BTW. I wrote a C# app (for Window$) which can be used to power off the BT device if you don’t want to use it.

Hmm i was wondering – if i buy a touch screen (Made for the 900/901) with a hub and a cam connector would i be able to cut the wires from the cam connector (For the mb) and solder it onto the points om the mb it should work as normal – but would i then be able to solder a bluetooth dongle onto the other cam connector (Going to the cam) and then it would be both touch screen og bt mod in one? (C/P from jkk – btw you trule are an inspiration to us all)

WOW! So, i was up until 2 am last night accomplishing this mod in my own Acer One and i have to say any one that can create the precision connections that are required to connect tiny wires to the Mini PCIe connector on this device has steadier hands than me! it took me 10 tries to finally get the wires soldered onto the motherboard. also i wound up using the empty Mini PCIe slot on the bottom of the device Pins 38 and 36 for my connections so i can confirm that the USB + and – are active at that connection. on your pictures i could not quite make out where you were accessing the 5V connection and the ground so i improvised and borrowed from the leads going to the USB port on the left side of the device. i have tested it and the side USB port is still working fine.

on a side note by moving to the bottom i was able to position the connection for the bluetooth into the access panel on the bottom and instead of hard wiring the USB bluetooth adapter into the system i cut the female end off of a USB extender and taped it in place so that i now have a USB port inside of the access panel. works great! i will have pictures on my site soon of the mod thanks tnkgrl for all of your work! i could not have done this with out you!

[…] I was surfing around on the net on my new Acer Aspire One and found the coolest hack for it over at Tnkgrl’s Website this hack was aimed at one of the few Achilles heels of the Acer Aspire One “no Bluetooth.” […]

[…] support from the community. For those who want to do some hardware hacking tnkgrl has some nice videos showing the opening and installing of memory, bluetooth and hard drive and closing of the case. […]

Thanks for the headstart. I modded mine today to add another internal WiFi card – one that is better supported in OSX and Linux than the Atheros one that it already has.

I did pull my USB connection from the other empty pads in the rear that you mentioned and it works just fine. I wired in a USB female connector and left it open in the empty compartment on the bottom and when everything was buttoned up, I plugged in a naked USB 802.11g WiFi adapter in and replaced the cover. Now, I have a working WiFi internally that is recognized by OSX as well as Windows.

[…] much time to play with my new toy. On Wednesday I googled and found several tips. There is even a guide that shows how to upgrade RAM, add bluetooth and some other tweaks. Amazing, but I don’t want to void my warranty yet. I installed SSH, and browsed the […]

Did the Bluetooth thing with my 150… Works great – thanks to tnkgrl!!! But i recommend to do this only if you are a very experienced solderer with extrem calm hands, sharp eyes and a real small iron. It took me 1 hour to connect to the pins at the miniPCIe slot and its easy to damage it. Best is to use 2 wires of an shielded Pata flat cable , because their distance is exact the same as the solder pads on the board. But again: DONT DO THAT IF YOU ARE NOT VERY, VERY EXPERIENCED IN SOLDERING SMD SIZE DEVICES!!

A word of caution with disassembly and the keyboard retention clips. The RAM upgrade mod went fine on my AA1 with 160 GB HDD. However, when I removed the keyboard during disassembly.

I unknowingly pushed two of the three keyboard retention clips (above the F2 and F8 keys) in too far. They twisted a bit and would not stick out to engage the keyboard. With a little work, I was able to get the middle tab (above the F8 key) realigned and extended through the little slot so it would engage the keyboard. The tab above the F2 was a real pain though. You cannot really get at this tab because of a piece of clear plastic that is used to transmit light from LEDs on the MoBo to the indicators on the rounded bar above the F1 through F3 keys. I screwed around with this tab for a long time. I finally gave in and carefully melted the plastic welds that hold the clear plastic LED transmitter piece in place (it has no electrical components on it). It was then an easy fix to get the keyboard tab realigned and extended so it would engage the keyboard. I cleaned up the clear plastic piece and glued it down. It appears to be holding fine (I used Gorilla Glue), but I am not certain about doing further mods in case this problem occurs again. The GG will prevent me getting at the left tab to fix it if it gets pushed in again. Good luck – mastman

Have anyone successfully able to install an 2GB RAm onto this unit yet? I tried on my system but it’s will not BOOT. When power ON the unit seem to run but SCREEN is BLACK. Nothing, else. But pop in an 1GB ( 512MB + 1GB Ram) now my system boot and run perfectly. I just want to know, if 2GB RAM in additional on 512MB will be possible on this unit?

Thanks

PS: The best I recommended is WinXP Pro will be the best …. seem to be the best for me…. it’s FAST …. also, web browser….. lose IE, TOOOOOOOO SSSLLLOOOOWWWWW …… I am using Google Chrome Web browser right now and LOVING IT…. Give it a try…..

Great post tnkgrl, and nice blog! Can’t believe I only just found it.
Got a few questions though- Firstly, will the bluetooth mod work with Linux installed?
Not necessarily the pre-installed flavour, just generally.

I am SO torn right now…trying to decide between the Eee 901 and the Aspire One A110
(Atom, 1Gb, 16Gb SSD, Linux) and I simply cannot choose ;_;

At first I thought it would be the Eee hands down due to moddability, and then I come accross this! Also, I heard some horror stories about the 901’s keyboard.

These are the things that are important to me in a netbook (aside from being small, affordable, having an SSD and running Linux of course)
Packet Injection
Battery Life
Ease of Use
Bluetooth
Moddable

I know the wifi on the 901 can be swapped for any good card, not sure about the Aspire. Can anybody clarify this? Does the stock card support packet injection, and can you put any card you like in?
We all know about the battery life of the Aspire :/ Although I heard you can buy a bigger battery? However, cost+
I have heard the keyboard in the Aspire is the greatest. That is important to me.

I have to say, the acer seems to be shaping up to be the better of the two, despite poor battery life and lack of bluetooth. I don’t think I can live without bluetooth in a device such as this, so it looks like I’ll be modding it in myself. I think I have only ever soldered to PCB a couple of times in school, so I must admit I’m a little nervous about that. However I can weld ok, so I should be good with a little practise!

edit: Just checked price on the battery…70 quid! The damn netbook only costs £230!

Does anyone know whether any of the BIOS or POST routines for this computer are loaded on the manufacturers hidden partition on the hard disk instead of BIOS ROM ?

Here are the details:

I just upgraded my Acer Aspire One.

Replaced and upgraded RAM with a 2GB stick
Repalced the 120 GB hard drive with a 320 GB drive.

Before inserting the new hard drive I used Norton Ghost 14 to copy both the diagnostics partition (named PQSERVICE) of about 5.7 GB and the C:\ drive partition from the original drive to the new 320 GB drive.

My computer wont boot up now – the screen doesn’t light up and no bios messages display . I had set up a power password but I am not prompted for that either now. I know the hard drive is powered up because I can here it spin down when I power down. There are no POST / BIOS beeps either but maybe I had left the volume on zero when the computer was last alive or there is no PC speaker.

Before trying to dissassemble and reconnect everything in case of loose contacts, I wanted to ask if anyone has any suggestion.

Do you think the RAM is the problem ?

I am wondering whether the computer BIOS or startup routines are loaded on the hidden diagnostic partition. Maybe that partition was not copied ok since it can’t be read like a normal data partition in Windows Explorer I would only know that it’s not ok when boot fails.

Hey I was reading this and thought that there might be a fairly easier way. Couldn’t you solder the usb bluetooth dongle internally and have a switcht that still enables the usb port also, so u can turn bluetooth on and off with the switch? mod the outside of the case to hold a small switch. Thing is, I dont know what kind of switch i could use if this is even possible.

[…] that most other netbooks include is an internal Bluetooth module. The very handy netbook hacker ‘tnkgrl’ has provided very detailed instruction on how to install an internal Bluetooth … in your […]

I am not tnkgrl, but in my theory, if you ran the power in parallel system with the wifi, 3.3v should be able to power to 2×3.3v in parallel, and switching off wifi should disable the bluetooth as well. but lets hear it from tnkgrl

I did the mod (which was easier then the other one’s I saw online even though the PCI connector is so tiny) and had only one issue.

I got the same Kensington bluetooth module as you but my sound quality on a bluetooth headset is horrible. I use it to talk to people with SKYPE and SIP and there is a loud periodic interference. Not the same as the normal crack of bluetooth. I disable as much hardware as I could (including wifi) but still got it. Took the bluetooth off the board and plugged it into a normal jack and still have it.

You don’t have this issue? Did you use the driver that came with the dongle?

Hi all,
what about to use the WiFi switch to power on bluetooth? On my AAO 110, this switch is able to switch-on the 3G function, when you push it to LEFT (you only need make the hole bigger to left side) and maybe to use the blue LED which is onboard. (sorry for my poor english). Is it possible that this switch gives 5 (or 3,3)V to unused PCIE connector?
thx

I have Acer Aspire One version (AOA150-1359) but I realy would like a little bigger monitor with same specifications. So I have just shop for the 10.1 inch acer aspire one (AOD150-1165) Amazon has it for preorder. I do not like with my 8.9 acer computer laptop – very easy to scratch the cover if you use it like me to put it in and out in bag with metal zips. There are many shop ideas like neoprene sleeve or some soft case. I also recommend buy a 9 cell battery and mini usb bluetooth.

Been reading and watching your Asus Aspire one modding guide, and there is a prblem I have. In your hard drive mod, you mention that you used a 1.8inch 5mm thick hard drive from an iPOD or similar device.

Please could you let me know if it is possible to use 8mm thick hard drives, as these are available with larger capacities than the 5mm discs.

BT MOD:
All. To programmatically turn your BT on/off, which hopefully will save power when not needed (since for obvious reasons you can’t unplug it), you can use this little app I wrote.
It’s not the easiest to install, but well worth it, like this mod.

Hello all, I did the bluetooth mod with a micro usb bluetooth dongle. Installed drivers-etc and it worked great. When I shutdown/restart xp, it cannot find the bluetooth. I have tried everything I know and so far the only fix is to reinstall the drivers. Cant do that everytime I reboot xp! Anyone else have the problem? My machine is a AAO 1.5g ram 320g harddrive, xp pro. Ihave Google desktop installed, could it cause this?

Found also other site that shows acer aspire in detail how to install internal bluetooth module. Also shows pinout of a cheap external usb bluetooth module and how to modify it and use it as internal. Hope it helps.

[…] some of the cool ways you can trick out this tiny machine. In part 1, for example, you learn how to open the Aspire, upgrade the RAM, and add a notably absent feature: Bluetooth. Part 2 teaches you to replace the […]

tnkgrl, If you ever need someone to do some extreme soldering, please let me know. I have a full setup for SMD rework. I would be interested to find out if I could put an SSD along with my 160hd in my AA1. Other then that, great work. Again, if you need someone to do minute(small) soldering, please let me know.

Excelent, I have an acer mini with one giga and thanks to you I was able to put 1.5 Gigas.
There is some difference between my acer and your because mine has a hard drive but it wasn’t a problem.
Thank you for share your knowledge!!

Hi, This is a nice article. Its interesting to see how much of self engineering goes in to this tiny laptop. I was planning to rip the cover to add a blue tooth. Then, I came across a tiny USB Bluetooth, which can easily be left attached to one of the USB ports. It is much smaller compared to the standard USB devices, that you can leave it always plugged in. If you are interested, AZIO BTD-V201 is the model. Question, when you add the bluetooth as described int his article, do you effectively loose one external USB ports?

[…] around here, is at it again. This time she has modded an Acer Aspire One subnotebook to have internal Bluetooth. She’s released part 1 of a multi part tutorial on beefing up the Aspire One. In this part, […]

tnkgrl, I took a hi-res pic of the SATA conn. You can view it at http://www.manfunk.com/pics/aa1/sata.jpg If you go to the sub directory, I have hi-res pics and some info on what all the chips are. Beware, the pics are 4-7meg and 4000×3000 ;)

On a side note, I hooked up my SATA drive to my gaming PC and was amazed at how fast it is. Below are specs from HD Tach along with my 7200rpm 500gb seagate for backup and my Raptors in RAID0

I should add a note, with the HD in the AA1 the CPU utilization is at a whopping 8%. YIKES. on my gaming PC it is at only 1%. Just goes to show you that the cooling fan and heatsink need improvment since the CPU has to work so hard just to use the hard drive lol. I am working on a copper heatsink replacement…. when I have the time that it ;).

[…] out this blog and video for some really good tips, and a video on removing the top of the laptop. https://tnkgrl.wordpress.com/2008/08/14/modding-the-acer-aspire-one-bluetooth/ The video shows you removing all the bottom screws (THIS IS NOT NEEDED FOR THIS MOD on the 10.1) […]

No Phil it does not work like that on XP. However, you can change a few things in XP and run them on an SD card like virtual memory. But then u have to leave that SD card in the machine. I am going to mod my AA1 to have an internal SD card for just such a purpose. I will also put drivers on it but mainly use it as “ready boosted” XP

Hi, I used your video to upgrade my RAM, thank so much! Unfortunately while I was re-assembling the unit, I broke the little black plastic piece that secures the touchpad to the motherboard. I fiddled around with it a few times the touchpad still does not work. Any ideas on how I can get another one of those pieces that I broke? Or perhaps a work around? Thanks so much in advance!

I just ran into this discussion. I’m like REALLY stupid about tech. Can I ask what exactly are the weak points of the Acer Aspire One that’s being sold at Radio Shack in the U.S. presently. I mean for the money or whatever. What makes it a good or bad deal to you. (By the way, using an external BT doesn’t bother me in the least. So hey, that’s what I’m like.) Thanks.

I will look further through the site in case I missed it – but I would be very interested in adding IEEE1394 (Firewire) to my Aspire One (160GB/1GBRAM/WinXP). This would be for very light video work, like digital transfers of video from tape to disc or simple editing of short clips. I already have used it with a Canon 5D digital camera for image transfer and even for remote shooting with the Canon utility and other software including Photoshop. Took a while to figure out how to get some of the Canon software working by changing the monitor settings, but now it works quite well.

Firewire, even if it were not operating at full speed would be useful also for an M-Audio Firewire-410 for audio recording. The footprint of this unit is almost the same as the Aspire and if it were not for the lack of connectivity, I would have tried it already. Overall I have been very impressed with the Acer Aspire One.

I have just bought one of these in pretty pink and thought that all netbooks had bluetooth. I feel ripped off that it doesn’t!
Thank you for this info, I will show it to my husband (I couldn’t do it myself) and maybe then I can hook my aspire to my mobile.

Thanks for your videos & pics on the Aspire one mods. I have been modding minis since I was over-clocking the old Libretto 50,70,100 & 110 models. I added a 40gb Toshiba drive & the hard wire bluetooth mod. I usnderstand the 8mm drives will also fit and I wonder if you have had any experience or have spoken with anyone who has tried the 5400rpm Samsung drives? Thanks, Walt

I installed 2.5 insamsung 5400 rpm 500 GB with no problem! I soldered the SATA connector and it works perfect!!!
battery 3C last 1 hour!
I soldered Also the mini PCI 9 mm connector and sierra 3G was detected.
the only problem I have now is the sim Holder
I got one wich is not correct electricaly.
my first sim card has been destroyed!!! becomes too hot!! it is a problem with power exact location!!!!
TankGirl would you please help!!!!
Kind regards

I installed a 40G Toshiba ZIF yesterday (5.2.09)… anyone who claims that it is easy to cram the ZIF ribbon into the HDD is lying…I actually broke the surrounding plastic housing on the ZIF connector…but luckly the connector pins stayed in place…everything is working great now…*sigh*…and I get about 7 hours out of the 9 cell battery I’m using…

you CAN upgrade the .3MP webcam on your AOA150 unit to a 1.3MP!!! I have done it, and you require a “Camellia” webcam from another Acer full sized laptop. Our AA1 cameras are called “Rose” and are model # CN0316-M608-0V01 btw. The model number of the board, which is directly replaceable is called “Camellia” CN0314-0V03. See here for more info: http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=13526

Hello.I am tired of the slow ssd, so i bought a toshiba 30gb mk3008gal 1.8′ hdd and a kingston 1gb ram module. The extra ram works fine, the hdd cannot be recognized. i connect the toshiba hdd to a external 1.8 to usb case and i can see it working. i connect the toshiba hdd to the aao and i have problem. the aao cannot even boot into the bios screen.
i connect the intel ssd to the case and it doesnt work.
some help would be much appreciated

On the XP Hard drive version of the Acer Aspire One with an 8.9″ screen, there are 19 screws required to disassemble the unit enough to replace memory. There are 4 different sizes/types of screws in this group of 19. Would someone please document where the short, medium and long black screws go? [The 4th screw type is the one silver screw that goes under the keyboard in the rightmost hole.]

I have a question. I am wanting to change my wireless card in my Aspire One – XP version. I am wanting a N compatible card. Is there an integrated one on the market? And, would I be able to use the existing antennas for the g/n signals and not hook up the b. b is useless at this point. Trying to avoiding running another antenna up the monitor.

I am trying to avoid having to use a USB dongle from always having to be sticking out of my machine.

Hello tnkgrl :)
I was wondering if you could upload you AAO bluetooth mod video on YouTube cause there is no way i can watch it on Qik. For some reason it just wont load…
Thanks and keep up the great work!

For the bluetooth mod I have been looking into this and I have been practicing my soldering so I can do this mod but, the one main problems I have seemed to come across is what type of wire did you use? It’s measured in voltage apparently so if you could tell me this I would be very happy!! Also was all the wire the same?

Hi tnkgrl
I am trying to get the exact HDD you used to install on the acer aspire 2 video but i just can,t get it so if you can please send me the details of the drive i will be much grateful.The name and model number thanks

Great little computer. I have a Mac and I didn’t want to carry it around the house and possible damage it. So this little number is great. Small fits in any bag and great for travel. Great buy for the price. And I love the color.

Eventhough this post is almost a year old I wanted to take the time to thank you for the clear explaination about how to mod my netbook :)
Eventhough I have a Packard Bell Dot, 95% of your guide still worked. Seeing as the product code is ZG5, same as the Acer One, it made sense. Few things that WERE different were 2 more screws under a piece of plastic whereunder lie the caps-lock, scroll-lock and num-lock leds. Without removing these, the top wouldn’t go off, also there were 2 more screws in my motherboard, which I didn’t really have to remove, but did it anyway so I could take out my whole motherboard and solder a bit more comfortable. And I had to remove my daughterboard first, because I have a ‘big’ harddisk instead of an SSD. Apart from these few differences I could follow your guide quite well and now have a working blue-tooth adapter built in my netbook.. yay :)

I’ve seen combo wifi / bt mini pci-e cards on ebay. The question is can I not simply replace the existing wifi card (connected to the mini-pcie port with one of these and get the whole package? No modding?

Hi tnkgirl! Awesome mod, I followed your directions and was able to upgrade my RAM and bluetooth. However, when I was done my camera usb no longer detects. It is not a driver issue as there is no ‘unknown’ device in the device tree. The hardware is not detecting at all. What could I have done to cause this? The bluetooth works great, did we solder to the camera usb at all? If its not related, do you happen to know where on the board I should look for a short? Thanks for any help!

By the way, I bought one of the WIFI + Bluetooth PCI cards in eBay and after a driver hunt I must say it works quite well. I have a AOA150-1635 upgraded to 250GB 7200 rpm hard drive & 1.5GB of ram. Now it is a laptop not a mere netbook!
Thanks all

Hey tnkgrl…love the articles. I did the bluetooth, upgraded my drive, already had a gig of ram in, and I was looking at the PCIe wifi card and noticed the little pigtails. I switched the main to the aux…and then with the main I installed an external antenna. Amazing the difference I get on wifi connections. I knwo you have 3G now so you probably don’t need it, but it’s a cool mod. Let me know fi you want pics. I mounted the jack for the external antenna on the lower right side in the space by the mic/headphone jacks. Anyways, thanks for the posts, they inspired me to take it one step further and do that external antenna.

What I can’t find is an *INTERNAL* wimax card. Obviously, they’re being made if they’re starting to sell these things with wimax built-in, but where can I get just the card, and are these cards dual wimax/wifi , or are there two seperate cards in these new netbooks?

Is it possible to put two usb devices where you soldered the bluetooth connection?

What I want to do is replace the wireless pci car inside with the broadcom HD card and add a wi-fi card in the same manner as the bluetooth. I was going to use either the buffalo or the Mvix Nubbin wi-fi adapters.

Also adding in the bluetooth internally as well would be nice too but Im not sure if its possible

hi tnkgrl.i’m from malaysia.i’ve been watching your videos bout the modification on aspire one for bluetooth, 1.8 hdd, and 3g card.those all are amazing jobs i’ve ever seen.in my country, there are less people who have the way of thinking like you. people here just wait for new stuff to be release then they just buy it. but for me, the old one still new.after i watched all those videos, as an idea…can a desktop pc being mods like that? fforgot to tell you that i’m a freelance computer repairer.but my knowledge were just 10% of what you have (i think). i know parts of hardware on a pc’s but i did’nt know what are the electronic part on them.

as an experiment that i’m willing tho try, could you give me a guide on modding this model

Thanks to your work, i just stripped out my acer ferrari one 200…upgraded processor from athlon 1.2ghz to turion 64 x 2 giving me 2.20 ghz.
now running at same speed as my ferrari 1100, but lighter, with better speakers ;).
the guys at acer said it would not work, but where theres a TNKGRL theres a way :). good tip with the credit card..not a scratch on it :)
thanks aagain for the great videos.
hadrock XXXXX :)

Hey and good mods here. I did only the ram upgrd back when I bought this a year ago. Now I am ready to jump in to the (possible) dealy mod. I say that because I have lost some abilities in my hands for accuracy.

What I would like to do, along with because I might as well while I am in there, is to add a 32gb (or higher) USB stick hard mounted in just like the BT. Reason being, I am happy with Linpus for my work stuff. But I want to get Win7 and Mandriva 2010 on as well (triple boot). I have only been able to dual boot Linpus with Win7, Mandriva with Linpus, and Mandriva with Linpus (current set). When I try to get all 3, with Mandriva as the final install, it will not allow me due to the partitioning. So, I figured if I was able to dump Linpus onto the USB stick, I can then get Win7 and Mandriva on the drive.

For me the ram upgrade was simple. However, if you have no skills at all, I would not recommend you do it yourself, find someone that has some skills or abilities to work with electronics. You have to open the whole unit to get to the memory, not just a trap door. Following the guide will get it done perfectly.

Replacing your SSD with a pata is going to be generally slower. The main advantage of using the pata hack is that you gain tons of storage space, but not so much on speed. The newer SSD drives are getting faster, but the cost per gig ratio is still crazy. Your old SSD may do a few things faster than the pata, but in the long run, until the science allows a better drive price ratio…Your better off with the pata.

Thanks for taking the opportunity to talk about “Modding the Acer Aspire One – Bluetooth « tnkgrl Mobile”, I benefit from learning about this subject. If possible, as you gain data, please update this blog with new information. Thanks, Hier

Hi, once I see all this mods I’m gonna be crazy :)
So I do the bt mod and now I have add the 3g module(now HUAWEI EM770W), but I have a problems with the divice. At system divices once I open the 3g module (move at the left the switch) see at the device info that have has stop by the system because of a malfunction, error # 43 and at the system devices info see as anknown device. I have already check 3 times the pins of the sockets and they are nice and clean soldered… Does anyone know anything about this mater?
P.S. sorry for my English..

I know this blog is OLD, but its still very cool.
recently bought an AAO, wiped and in super great shape. Installed Fedora lxde, which had crash after crash. My Linux expert cousin couldnt sort it, so we installed UNE 10.04. Flawless (almost, sleep and hibernate still nogo), great little machine, until…
I tripped going up some stairs. My backpack fell over my shoulder with the AAO inside. Turning it on, the fan was super loud, it wasn’t before.
I want to make it fanless, as the N270 chip supports that, and I’ve done the calcs on the heatsink I’m using (looking at the cooling unit, there isn’t much energy we’re getting rid of). Trouble is, Bios won’t let me disable overtemp, and the fan is a non-standard Maglev unit, which puts out a different signal through the grey wire than a tacho.
Any help on disableing or tricking mobu?
Jason

I could always do that.. if I had an O-scope and a non-cooked fan. I’m working with an analog multi-meter, so I could still get info from a good fan, but mine is fried.
I heard sometimes the casing around the fan need some physical adjusting, so I pulled it to test, and upon connecting it to a Jumped PSU the fan made a light noise but no spin. Then some smoke, and now there is a short across all leads.

From Sunon (fan mfr’s) site, there are two types of maglev fans: yellow third lead and white. yellow is pulsed tacho sygnal, white is a rotation detector, which is a solid signal: V-low is turning, V-high is not. The AAO fan has grey, so I’m guessing its really the white, but I don’t know the the appropriate V-low, or if I’m even correct in my guess.

First off, Thanks tnkgrl for the mod idea. I followed the directions and the BT works awesome on my AAO ZG5, however now I have the problem that my trackpad stopped working now that I added BT. I have checked the ribbon connector etc and everything is fine. The buttons on either side of the trackpad don’t work either. So now the only way I can use the netbook is with my BT mouse. Any idea how to fix this? btw I am running Ubuntu 10.04LTS. Any help is appreciated.

Hi can anybody help me with this?
I have an Aspire one that got dropped on the floor killing the monitor. I replaced the monitor and now the last 1/4 of the screen is black. The hole picture is in the first 3/4 of the screen but since it is a new monitor I figure i might as well use the hole picture ;o) furthermore the screen is diveded in to so that the top 3 cm is in the bottom. I tryied to bios update, reinstalled the system but nothing helps. If i put an external monitor on everything is perfect….. I fear that it might be the motherboard wich is sick but i don’t now. Can anybody help??
Thanks

I did the upgrade to the samsung hdd. Dos reconizes it. I am using an external dvd drive to install Windows XP. But for some reason it stops after getting to the start up level. Says there is an error and wants me to do a chkdsk. Did I get a bad hdd??

every time i try to install xp or xp sp3 on my ompaq presario cq40-215wm in comes up with :

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

if this is the first time you’ve seen this stop error screen,
restart your computer. if this screen appears again, follow
these steps:

check for viruses on your computer. remove any newly installed
harddrives or hard drive controllers. check your hard drive
to make sure it is properly configured and terminated.
run chkdsk/f to to check for hard drive corruption, and then
restart your computer.

I have just replaced the wifi (modem) card on my A150b and struggled. Wish I’d discovered your blog earlier, although I’m now considering upgrading my RAM, so I will be watching your video. Thanks for sharing! :D

[…] Modding the Acer Aspire One – Bluetooth | tnkgrl Mobile – Welcome to part 1 of a multi-part post on moddng the Acer Aspire One! In this part, I demonstrate how to take the Aspire One apart, how to upgrade the RAM, and how to …… […]